- Title: Tintori says husband Leopoldo Lopez tortured in Venezuelan prison
- Date: 9th July 2017
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WIFE OF OPPOSITION LEADER LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, LILIAN TINTORI, SAYING: "He is strong, he is resolute but with daily reminders of the situation he went through in Ramo Verde (military prison). It was very tough being in Ramo Verde. We held on, we resisted and put up with a lot. The final days for Leopoldo Lopez (in the prison) were the worst. We complained against torture. In his final days in prison he lost six kilos (approximately 13 pounds), his vision is not well. Leopoldo was locked in a cell for 32 days without anything. He was denied food, they made him eat prison food and he fell ill. He spent 10 days vomiting and had diarrhoea and they (authorities) didn't give him anything." PROTESTERS CHEERING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WIFE OF OPPOSITION LEADER LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, LILIAN TINTORI, SAYING: "There was no negotiation for Leopoldo to be at home. It was a unilateral decision taken by the government of Nicolas Maduro. You don't negotiate on freedom, you don't negotiate on human rights, you never negotiate on dignity." PROTESTERS CHANTING: "FREEDOM" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WIFE OF OPPOSITION LEADER LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, LILIAN TINTORI, SAYING: "I was at home on Friday (July 07) and Leopoldo entered the house at 3am. I greeted the officials who were in the convoy, I shook their hands, I said thank you. I cried with emotion because it was a day I had dreamt of for a long time and it finally arrived. I said thanks to Delcy Rodriguez (former foreign minister) and Jorge Rodriguez (government official) who were there. I told them that there could be no more torture in Venezuela, that there should be no more political prisoners in Venezuela. That we need to work together to reach an understanding, reach an agreement for an immediate solution to the crisis in Venezuela. They can depend on me as a human rights activist and as the wife of Leopoldo Lopez, and as a woman." PROTESTERS APPLAUDING SPEAKERS ON STAGE PROTESTERS HOLDING UP POSTERS WITH IMAGE OF LOPEZ PROTESTER WITH POSTER WITH IMAGE OF LOPEZ CALLING FOR FREEDOM PROTESTER CHANTING "YES WE CAN" PROTESTERS CHANTING "YES WE CAN" PROTESTERS HOLDING VENEZUELAN FLAG WOMEN HOLDING VENEZULEAN FLAG WOMAN JUMPING AND WAVING VENEZUELAN FLAG PLACARD AT PROTEST THAT READS "MADURO, MURDERER OF YOUTHS" PLACARD WITH CARTOON IMAGE OF MADURO AND RED BIRD, IN REFERENCE TO COMMENT FROM MADURO THAT THE LATE HUGO CHAVEZ COMMUNICATED TO HIM VIA A BIRD BELLY OF PREGNANT WOMAN PAINTED IN VENEZUELAN COLOURS AND WITH "FREEDOM" WRITTEN ON BELLY CLOSE OF BELLY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, YORGETH ROMERO, SAYING: "It's been many days, 100 days of fighting. There are many mothers like me who are at home and scared to go out because of so much repression. Today, I overcame my fear and told myself that I will go out for my son, for the future of the littlest ones (children). Like me there are thousands of mothers, millions of mothers who are fighting to support our children." PROTESTERS HOLDING UP LETTERS THAT READ "100 DAYS FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH PEACEFUL PROTESTS" LETTERS HELD UP BY PROTESTERS THAT READ "PROTEST" PROTESTERS GATHERED ON STREET
- Embargoed: 23rd July 2017 21:14
- Keywords: Lilian Tintori Leopoldo Lopez Nicolas Maduro house arrest Venezuela
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0036OZW9QF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Sunday (July 09) accused authorities of torturing her husband while he was in prison, just one day after he was released from jail and placed in house detention.
While Lopez was at home with his two young children, his wife Lilian Tintori, who has campaigned for him around the world including meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, addressed the crowd at a public square denouncing torture and the keeping of political prisoners.
Lopez, 46, was sentenced to nearly 14 years in jail on charges of inciting violence during 2014 protests against President Nicolas Maduro that led to 43 deaths. But he was surprisingly granted house arrest and transferred before dawn on Saturday (July 08) due to what the Supreme Court called "irregularities" in his case and for health reasons.
Venezuelans are marking 100 days of protests against Maduro, calling for early elections against the government in the face of widespread shortages of food and medicine, a flailing economy and rampant crime.
Many protests have ended in clashes between masked youths and security forces, with hundreds arrested and thousands injured since the unrest began at the start of April. According to reports, some 90 people have died.
But the government accuses its critics of seeking a US-backed coup against Caracas. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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